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Dec 30, 2012

Magical twilight colors combined with the Boston Skyline and
landmarks like the Prudential Center, John Hancock Building, Custom House of
Boston, and Boston Harbor Waterfront have become one of my favorite
photographic subjects when I am not occupied with Nature Photography. I
find it amazing when night and city become one for a few minutes and the city
lights arise while the sky turns beautifully turquoise. First Light Boston is tomorrow
and it inspired this picture collection of some of my favorite Boston skyline
photographs:

Dec 28, 2012

Last August I
traveled to Southeast Florida and visited Butterfly World
in Coconut Creek near Boca Raton and Delray Beach. The butterfly garden was an
incredible experience; what a fantastic place to escape to for a full morning
or day and get lost with a camera. Seeing butterflies of every type and color
flattering around the beautiful aviary was simply a joy. I spent about 3 hours
pursuing insect macro photography at the garden. At first I equipped my Camera
with a Canon 100mm macro photo lens but ran into limitations of composing frame
filling images since the butterflies took off when I got too close crossing
their comfort zone. The Canon 70-200mm lens provided a handier approach and
adding a Canon 1.4x teleconverter made it a much more pleasant photo experience
at up to 420 mm focal length. In order to compensate for the longer lens and
resulting slower shutter speeds adjusting the ISO setting to 200 was a must. A
large aperture setting (small f/stop, 5.6 and less) not only supported my quest
for that faster shutter speed but also created a shallower Depth of Field. A shallow depth of field is mostly
desired when photographing wildlife, birds or bugs and supports beautiful
isolation of the main macro photography subject against the blurred background.
Unfortunately Butterfly World does not allow the use of tripods or monopods any
more and hand-holding the camera gear became quite its own challenge at times.
The butterfly garden is well stuffed with knowledgeable and the friendliest
workers; they happily pointed out the secrets of the garden and also explained
to me that the watering system is very delicate and piping easily breaks. In
earlier years when photographers were allowed to bring in tripods they often
damaged a lot of water piping while positioning tripods behind the railing. Hence,
tripods and monopods were forbidden at one point and we, as photographers, now
have to make the right camera adjustments to allow for hand-holding high quality
photos.

In the first
butterfly picture the colorful Birdwing Butterfly was beautifully hanging off a
little shrub branch and I remember being extremely exited, thinking about this
exceptional find and figuring out how to transform this amazing nature setting
into a piece of fine art photography that does not let a viewer pull away and
move on. Isolating and composing the subject on the branch against a calming
background was my highest priority. I therefore composed the butterfly picture
in front of a sunlit bush that was 3 to 4 yards behind the subject. Choosing a
large aperture setting (small f-stop) of f/4.0 resulted in an exposure time of
1/200 second allowing the capture of this butterfly image with the calming
backdrop in blur. The second butterfly picture shows a photo of a Blue Morpho
resting on a blade of grass near ground level. By moving back and forth, left
and right I found a final pleasing composition that worked for this image. I
than patiently waited for the butterfly to open its magnificent blue wings but
it refused to grant me that wish and picture that day. On the bright side it
provides a perfectly fine excuse for a warm Florida escape this winter, flying
to Miami, renting a car and staying a few days near Butterfly World. The aperture in this second picture was f/4.5
at ISO200 resulting in an exposure time of 1/100 sec. The second butterfly
photo was purposely underexposed by 1/3 of a stop to boost and saturate colors.
Dust spot removal, minimal contrast, lighting and color saturation
adjustments were made during post processing before sharpening the final images
of the Butterflies.

Dec 27, 2012

This blog features a fine collection of some of my personal favorite insect Macro Photography Art. The inspiring selection is showing butterflies, moths, flies, grasshoppers, and dragonflies in their natural habitat that make for beautiful and interesting Wall Art Decoration. Pictures were taken in wildlife sanctuaries throughout amazing Florida and the New England state of Massachusetts. Lots of patience and applying limited Depth of Field settings were only 2 key elements from my practical Macro Photography Tips that allowed for those compelling macro photo images.

"You can take all the sincerity in Hollywood and place it in the naval of a fruit fly, and still have room left for three caraway and an agent's heart" Fred Allen

"After 12 years, the old butterflies came back. Well, I guess at my age you call them moths." ~ Franco Harris

"Butterflies are self propelled flowers." ~ R.H. Heinlein

"The most beautiful thing we can experience is the mysterious. It is the source of all true art and science." ~ Albert Einstein

Dec 26, 2012

As earlier announced this year I partnered with Maynard's, LLC and compiled a fine
collection of my flower photography images in a 1,000 piece high quality,
interlocking puzzle: "Flowers in Bloom". I finally had a chance and some quite time to start the puzzle and enjoying it tremendously ... it is challenging and so much fun!

The puzzlecomes with a twist that makes it so much more fun to piece together. The twist is that the images on the box do not exactly match the images on the completed puzzle. Thepuzzle twistwas
developed to enhance the jigsaw experience and with hidden images and a new twist
around every corner, the intent is not to make the jigsaw puzzle more
difficult, but to make the whole experience more enjoyable. This 1,000 piece puzzle twist measures 26 5/8" x 19 1/4" when
completed and the compilation of flower images from my Fine Art Photography Gallerycan be beautifully framed thereafter.

Dec 25, 2012

Every week I choose one of my favorite photographs of the week from my Fine Art
landscape, cityscape, flower and macro photography collection and offer it
throughout that week at a discounted rate. Inspired by the incredible artist Georgia O'Keeffe, this week's photo of
the week on sale is Pink Sensation, blooming pink orchids at its most beautiful over white.

Starting today through the week of 26 December 2012 this pink orchid flower photography picture from my Flower Photography Gallery, available as art photo print, acrylic print, metal print or on canvas, is on sale.

Dec 12, 2012

If you produce art to sell you are in the art business. If
you sell your art, you need to report your income to the IRS. For artists just
starting out, the first hurdle is to prove you are in business, in other words,
that you have a profit motive. This is important because if you do not have a
profit motive, you are engaged in a hobby and “hobby loss” rules apply. The
“hobby loss” rules are not tax advantageous.

I had a client who was a doctor and also played the bass.
One year he organized a gig with his band at a local bar. He was paid $4k by
the bar. Between paying for equipment rental, paying some of the musicians and
other incidentals, the gig cost him a little over $4k. He was fine with that
because he really was doing it just for the fun of it and was happy that at
least it wasn’t costing him anything.

In January of the next year the bar sent him a Form 1099
showing non-employee compensation of $4k. The Form 1099 is an IRS form prepared
by the person who paid you, in this case the owner of the bar. One copy of the
form goes to the IRS and one copy goes to you. My client wasn’t concerned about
the form because he figured no tax could be due on no income. He had netted less
than zero income on the performance. He didn’t even mention it to me; the story
came out when I was working on his tax return in February and called to ask
about the Form 1099.

Music for my client was clearly a hobby, not a business. Although
you can take deductions for the expense of a hobby, those deductions are limited and, sometimes, depending on
your income, not allowed at all. You
can never take a loss from a hobby. My client was very surprised to find out he
owed $1k in tax on the $4k earnings from the gig.

If you engage in your art to sell it and make money you are
in business and different rules apply. You are considered self-employed and file a Schedule C with your annual income tax
return. Schedule C is the page of your tax return where self-employment income
and expenses are reported. If expenses are greater than income you have a loss.
The expenses are not limited and the loss is not limited. The loss can be used
to reduce any other taxable income you have, for example wages you have from
your day job.

In order to benefit from the self-employment rules and not
fall under the hobby loss rules you need to be sure you really have a business
going. Make sure you have a separate checking account and credit card that you
use only for business expenses and that any earnings you make get deposited
first into that business account. The IRS frowns on the commingling of funds.
If you take money from your business account for groceries and from your
personal account for paint supplies, it starts to look like a hobby. Worse is
if you do not even have separate accounts to begin with.

Other ways to prove a profit motive is to exhibit your work,
advertise it and of course, actually make a profit from it. An activity is
presumed to be engaged in for a profit if it is profitable three out of five
consecutive years. (For a new business the first two years may show deductible
losses, but you should start showing a profit by the third year. If you don’t,
you may still have a valid business; it just may be more difficult to prove.)

TAKE ALL YOUR
DEDUCTIONS

Once you have established a profit motive, you want to get
the benefit of all your deductions. The mileage deduction is often overlooked.
If you have to drive for your business, keep a log of miles driven. I suggest
keeping this piece of paper right in the car. Whenever you take a trip for your
art, write down the date, the destination, the purpose and the number of miles
driven. Each mile is a 55.5 cent deduction for 2012.

If you use part of your home as a studio or office you can
take a deduction for that as well. The deduction is calculated based on the
percent of square feet used for the business compared to the whole home. Just
be careful, the space must be used exclusively for the business purpose.

Things you do for education or to stay current in your field
are also deductible: ticket expenses to plays for a playwright, art
periodicals, museum fees, etc. Other common deductions include travel, office
supplies, art supplies, website maintenance, etc. Equipment you purchase, like
a camera, is also deductible, but over time. You usually cannot deduct the
entire cost in the year of purchase, but must depreciate the cost of big ticket
items over the years you use them.

PAY YOUR TAXES

Now that you are up and running and clearly making a profit,
you need a plan for paying your taxes. The IRS expects to be paid along the
way. You generally can’t wait until your return is due on April 15th
to pay your taxes. If you receive a Form W-2 as an employee, taxes are taken
out and paid to the IRS over the course of the year. If you are self-employed,
you are responsible for paying that tax to the IRS in four quarterly estimated
payments. These payments can be made in equal installments and are due in
April, June, September and January (not exactly equal quarters, but that is how
the IRS does it.) So if you estimate that you will owe $2k in tax you should
pay $500 each quarter.

You can also “annualize” and pay as you earn. That means if
you make nothing from January through November, but do really well in December,
you pay no tax estimates April, June and September, but pay all in the fourth
quarter (January of the following year.)

The quarterly payments, of course, are estimates. As long as
you pay 90% of the total tax due you will be o.k. and will not have to pay any
interest or penalties when you file your return in April. The IRS also will not
charge interest or penalties if you have paid in 100% (or 110% for higher earners)
of the tax that was due in the prior year. So if you owed $5k in tax for 2011,
and you have paid in $5k in tax in 2012, you may owe more in April, but you
will not owe interest and penalties. You can find instructions for calculating the
tax due here >>> f1040es.

THINK ABOUT
RETIREMENT

Lastly, it is important for artists not to overlook
retirement planning. If you file a Schedule C for your self- employment income as
an artist, you can set up a SEP-IRA. You can set up a SEP-IRA even if you
participate in a 401K plan at your day job. The tax advantage of having a SEP
is you can take a deduction for the amount you deposit into the SEP account and
the money grows in the account tax deferred. You don’t pay any tax until you take
withdrawals when you retire. Withdrawals taken at retirement age will likely be
taxed at a lower rate.

The amount you can deposit into a SEP-IRA each year depends
on your self-employment income. For 2012, the maximum you can contribute is
$49k or approximately 20% of your self-employment income, whichever is less. If
you contribute to your 401K at your day job, total contributions for both the
SEP and the 401K cannot exceed the $49k. So max out your 401K at work ($17k for
2012) and if you can afford to put any more away, put it in a SEP.

I hope this has been helpful. I have skimmed over these
important topics to give you an introduction to the tax issues you may have to
deal with. In my next blog I will discuss the tax implications of donating your
artwork to charity and leaving artwork to your heirs. Please leave any
questions; I will try to respond to everyone.

IRS Circular 230 notice:In order to comply with requirements imposed by the IRS, I must inform you that
any U.S. federal tax advice contained in this blog is not intended or written
to be used, and cannot be used, for the purpose of (i) avoiding penalties under
the Internal Revenue Code or (ii) promoting, marketing or recommending to
another party any transaction or matter that is contained in this blog.

Dec 10, 2012

Selling art online is no picnic. Online marketing and selling takes a
serious time commitment and lots of self discipline to build into an already
busy daily life. However, an online presence, selling art online and offline,
and marketing art online present endless opportunities for valuable exposure
and additional sales income. Some tips that worked for me:

Tip #1: Devote certain times of the day to Online Marketing.
During this time you interact and communicate with your followers. Organization
and time management skills are crucial. Try planning your daily, weekly,
monthly routine in advance and maintaining a check list. A good old "to
do" check list works wonder: check and respond to emails in the morning,
lunchtime, and/or evening, write a blog post, two or three depending on your
inspiration, market and share new/old pictures, blog posts, and announcements
with your online audience, respond to comments, questions and interact online
with others.

Tip #2: Do not get sidetracked by internet temptations wasting your precious
time online. Reserve a good amount of time for creating new art and
photography. There is no better marketing than creating new artwork and sharing
them with your audience, followers and fans.

Tip #3: Enhance your brand recognition by consistently creating excellent Photography Artwork and strong pieces to show off
online and offline, e.g. compelling compositions and well executed technique. If
you create artwork that is close to your heart and that you like most likely
others will do.

Tip #4: Make a local mark first and search for local ArtFairs, Galleries or Group Shows that fit your artwork. Once successful, you may be able to
emerge nationally or internationally. Share your successes in well written blog
posts, online press releases, announcements and in a Newsletter.

Tip #5: Be professional and present your artwork in the best possible way.
Build a professional web presence that matters; a professional looking Web Presence with beautiful artwork organized in easy to
navigate galleries will go a long way.

Dec 5, 2012

Creating beautiful Macro Photos involves not much more than a little bit of thought and good habits. The following 6 basic photo tips will get your photography to the next level and build confidence. These 6 step guideline will provide you the biggest bang for the buck … love to hear your feedback and results after applying one or all photo tips!

Step #1: Utilize the Rule of Thirds as a Starting Point for Your Composition

Don't use the Rule of Thirds as a set rule; more as a guideline or starting point for a more interesting and pleasing photographic composition. In Landscape Photography it is best to place the horizon in accordance to the importance of the sky; with dramatic sky formations placing the horizon in the lower third will give the sky more preference, for images with stronger foregrounds and weaker cloud or sky formations a horizon in the upper third of the image is more preferred. Usually locating the horizon in the middle makes a photo ordinary and static. An exception to the just said would be a grand landscape lake reflection. It is easy to apply the same approach to Flower Photography where laying the focus or point of interest within the flower at one of the four intersections has great impact by leaving room for the viewer to explore the image but also to be drawn back to the focus point.

Step #2: Apply the appropriate Depth of Field to your Photograph

Depth of Field or DoF relates to the parts of a photograph that are in full focus and show acceptable details. We, as photographers, have control over the amount of depth of field in a photograph and depending on our photographic or artistic goals we may vary 1 or all of the 4 factors that determine a shallow or extensive depth of field: Focal Length, Subject Distance or Magnification, Choice of Focus Point, Aperture or f-stop camera setting >>> Learn More.

Step #3: Use a Sturdy Tripod for Better Sharpness and Higher Picture Quality

Besides cameras and lenses, a solid tripod is one of the most important investments for a nature photographer. High quality nature photography is rarely achieved when hand holding your camera. A tripod is essential for low light photography during the morning, evening and twilight, for shooting wildlife, for macro photography and for experimenting with impressionistic or abstract photography. It not only steadies your shooting equipment for maximum image quality, it also will help you discover the world of photography. You are more likely to step back, think and compose a photograph. Prior to shutter release one should always ask yourself: do I have a straight horizon, do I have sufficient depth of field or shall I close the camera aperture setting to maximize depth of field, how will this setting impact my photograph, are there distracting elements in the foreground or background of my composition, do I even have a composition?

Step #4: Set up your Camera for Exposure Bracketing

Exposure is one of the most important camera and lens functions that a photographer needs to understand and master when pursuing photography. A correct exposed photograph conveys an image of clarity that retains details and colors in all areas of interest including light or dark areas. Correct exposure is always subjective and while I prefer a slightly underexposed image that boosts colors and saturation, others may not.

Correct exposure is a fine combination of ISO, shutter speed, aperture and lens settings. Understanding how these 4 elements come together is crucial for exceptional photography.

One way to evaluate correct exposure is the use of a histogram. With the help of the histogram we can determine and easily check for a correct exposure and adjust accordingly. Understanding a histogram may be overwhelming for some and there is an easier way to study and understand the impact of the 4 elements on exposure. Check your camera manual and set it up for exposure bracketing. 1 stop or even 2 stop brackets will do to study the impact. Exposure bracketing will allow for the camera to record 3 photos each time you take a picture. Start out by choosing a 1 stop bracket. The first picture will be taken at the base setting, the second photo will be under exposed by 1 stop and the third will be over exposed by 1 stop. Not happy with your results, close down the gap to 1/3 or 2/3 stops and retake the photograph. Digital photography is a great learning tool because mega pixels are free and a hands-on approach always works better than all the theory in the world. During post processing one can select the best exposure in accordance to the personal experience and scenery.

I almost always photograph in Aperture Priority Mode and at my lowest ISO setting which then provides me with the appropriate exposure time. Since I usually use a tripod I do not need to worry about slow exposure times. In more difficult lighting conditions I select exposure bracketing to ensure I achieve a correct exposure >>> Learn More.

Step #5: Shoot, shoot, shoot and Turn Home Field to Your Advantage

Explore your local gardens, parks, wildlife sanctuaries or nearby National Parks to work and enhance your photography skills. Once perfected locally one can pursue nature photography out of the comfort zone and away from home. Invest the saved money into a sturdy tripod and higher quality lenses. Keep shooting and practicing at your own pace and time, allow errors and learn from them; be inspired by others and develop your own photographic style. Learning by doing is key and learning not only from our mistakes but also from our successes is very beneficial as it is in every other job and industry >>> Learn More.

Step #6: Take Advantage of Exceptional Lighting Condition

Photography is often referred to as painting with light. When we talk about painting with light we talk about the process of creating a photograph. Photography derives from the Greek where photo means light and graph stands for painting. It is up to us photographers to evaluate the quality, quantity, direction and how we can manipulate light to our advantage for exceptional photography >>> Learn More.

Dec 3, 2012

Creating Floral Photos over black is always a lot of fun. The other day I got my
hands on a pink miniature orchid. It was a great find and allowed me to add a few more images to my existing orchid Flower Fine Art Photography gallery. Our dining room window faces east and provides exceptional morning light bouncing
off my neighbors' walls into our dining room. As a base for the flower I
use a chair and books that I place in front of the window. Because I
prefer working with natural light I use white cardboards to direct light
towards the floral when it is facing away from the window. Adjusting
the white boards to explore the impact on the lighting and better
control the light on the flower is a great learning experience. It is a
very delicate process and one has to watch carefully to notice the
adjustment for maximum impact. Sometimes I am still caught by surprise on its
affect and how it positively enhances the quality of a picture. In the
final floral close up photograph of this pink orchid I positioned the flower in
the best possible way that allowed the right amount of back-lighting
leading to a more pleasing floral image. I chose a small aperture
setting (large f-stop number) of f/32 that provided sufficient Depth of Field and an exposure time of 8 seconds. During post processing steps I
removed dust spots, minimally adjusted lighting, contrast and color saturation
before sharpening the final macro photography image of the pink orchid "Pink Sensations".

Dec 2, 2012

Every week I choose one of my favorite photographs of the week from my Fine Art
landscape, cityscape, flower and macro photography collection and offer it
throughout that week at a discounted rate. Inspired by the incredible artist Georgia O'Keeffe, this week's photo of
the week on sale is Blushing Orchids, blooming pink orchids at its best over white.

Starting today through the week of 02 December 2012 this pink orchid flower photography picture from my Flower Photography Gallery, available as art photo print, acrylic print, metal print or on canvas, is on sale.

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About Me

Juergen
Roth was born and raised near Cologne, Germany. In 1988, he moved to Berlin
West and following the fall of the Berlin Wall in 1989 he enjoyed exploring the
reunited city and the lost natural environment surrounding it. Since 2001 he has been living in Brookline, Massachusetts
with his wife Helen and daughter Nina.

Juergen has been participated in
many local art events and shows where his photography images achieved numerous
honors. Most recently in 2015, Juergen's iconic Boston skyline photography image Welcome to the Great City of Boston was recognized with the Kusmin Gallery Award for Best in New England at the Fine Art of Photography exhibition at the Plymouth Center for the Arts. In 2014 Serene Cape Cod
was awarded Highly Commended by a panel of world famous judges in the 2014
U.S.A. Landscape Photographer of the Year photography contest. His award
winning photography artwork has been published in books, calendars and
magazines throughout the world.

Juergen finds inspiration in Boston
when not chasing the light at nearby Wildlife Sanctuaries and the beautiful
landscapes and seascapes of New England. He
has always regarded nature as the ultimate inspiration.

"The question is not what you
look at, but what you see." - HENRY D. THOREAU